Actions Speak Louder Than Words
by Miss Mysty
Summary: Various drabbles featuring all couples and characters. 61: Yokozawa gets a little more comfortable with the thought of coming out.
1. Gen: Being Nosy

Being Nosy

"…Kisa-san," Ritsu asked one day, looking up from the paperwork he'd been diligently filling out. He'd had a sudden thought, and Kisa was the only one he could talk to at the time. The rest seemed to have gone into Hell Week mode a bit early. "Does Yokozawa-san have any family?"

"I don't think so?" Kisa blinked as he looked at his coworker. "Why would you say so? That guy is practically married to his work."

Ritsu bowed his head, glancing over to Takano to make sure he wasn't watching them. The last thing he needed was his boss yelling at them for not working. "I just heard him talking on his phone one day, when we had to share an elevator. Something like 'I'll pick up Hiyo today.'"

"Aw, Ricchan, stop worrying about it," Kisa said, smiling and holding out a box of donuts. "I never took you as the nosy type."

Ritsu took a donut despite himself and considered this as he chewed. It wasn't that he was nosy, it was just that he had seen so little of Yokozawa since that day in the elevator. He never knew Yokozawa to give up that easily, and it seemed weird, even if Takano had properly rejected him.

"Besides," Kisa added, wiping powdered sugar from around his mouth with his sleeve. "Yokozawa-san scares the crap out of me. I can't imagine him with kids." And then Kisa smiled and went back to his work.

Ritsu had to admit, even if Kisa had put it rather bluntly, he agreed. Something else blunt came into contact with his head, though, and he glared and turned to see Takano had chucked a ruler at him.

"Onodera-"

"Yeah, yeah, get back to work," Ritsu muttered, hoping Takano wouldn't hear, but he obviously did. Ritsu sunk down in his chair. It was going to be a long day.


	2. Erotica: Being Subtle

Being Subtle

Kisa couldn't help the good moods he'd sometimes be in, carried over from his over-the-top act in the Emerald offices when the cycle hadn't yet sucked his soul out. One of these good moods was how he found himself sprawled across his floor after work, sucking on one of those lollipops that didn't have a single natural ingredient in it and inevitably colored your tongue. Yukina had been staying over with him, but he had work that evening and would be back a bit late.

He was bored out of his mind and he had no idea why. He had plenty he could be doing, but he was instead opting for just laying there on the floor, sucking on the candy and sticking his tongue out every few minutes to see if it had turned blue yet. He was so concerned with the color of his tongue that he didn't even notice the door open, and the only way he knew Yukina was home was that the man leaned into his vision and said, "Is that an invitation, Kisa-san?"

Kisa frowned and pulled his tongue back into his mouth. Then he sat up, still holding the small lollipop between his fingers by the stick like it was a cigarette. "When the hell have I ever been that subtle?" he finally said.

"Never, Kisa-san," Yukina said, and he leaned in for a kiss. Kisa quickly opened his mouth to let Yukina's tongue in, and after a bit, Yukina said, "You taste so sweet, Kisa-san."

"Blame the candy," Kisa muttered against Yukina's lips.

"But you always taste sweet to me."

Kisa frowned and resisted the urge to hit him.

**For StandingOnTheRooftops, because if you have the guts to constantly talk to me and work through my ramblings as I plan fic, you deserve a pat on the back and a request XD**


	3. Erotica: Being A Fangirl

Being A Fangirl

There were a lot of things that attracted the frequent visitors to Marimo Books to Yukina Kou, the handsome head of the shojo manga department. The girls who went in just to see him didn't really care that in the end, he was just trying to sell them tankobon. It was his job, after all, and they had never known a salesman who did it with such enthusiasm and squee-worthy smiles.

Lately, though, they had noticed Yukina would smile in a different way. Not to them, of course; he was still their sparkly prince. If he was just stocking the shelves and wasn't really aware anyone was paying attention to him, though, they noticed it: kind of a warm smile, like he was thinking about something or someone that just made him happy.

The "someone" possibility was what got them whispering to themselves.

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" one of them asked the others. They had been late in getting to Marimo Books that day, but they didn't worry; they knew Yukina's general schedule by heart, so they were very unlikely to miss him if they timed things right.

"I hope not! I was kind of planning on asking him out soon," said another.

"Not if I do first!" said the third.

When they got to the shojo manga section, however, Yukina was nowhere to be found. It was about three minutes later that he came through, dressed in street clothes and not even noticing them. They wilted at missing their chance at talking with their prince, but then perked up when he stopped. Maybe he had seen them?

"What do you want for dinner today, Kisa-san?" Yukina had approached a young-looking guy who'd been lurking the shelves when the fangirls came in, but it wasn't like anyone had been paying attention to him. Now they just watched in fascination as "Kisa-san" put away the book he'd been reading.

"It's kind of late. Why don't we just pick up something?" He was only slightly disconcerted when he turned to Yukina only to receive a quick peck on the lips and a smile.

The fangirls' hearts shattered as they watched the couple walk out together. It was true: all the good men were gay, taken, or both.


	4. Gen: Being Drunk

Being Drunk

It had been a while since Yokozawa had gone out drinking with Aikawa Eri. He might not have even done it that night, but Kirishima was still working on end-of-the-cycle things and Hiyo had been shipped off to a sleepover with a friend. So, when Aikawa had approached him, he'd agreed- not really thinking that she had alternative motives this time.

After several drinks, Aikawa was tipsy and giggly but, for the most part, had her wits about her. Yokozawa, on the other hand, was face-down on the table, his face completely red. Aikawa had almost forgotten what an emotional drunk he could be.

"I'll take you home, Yokozawa-san," Aikawa said, giggling as she stood up and stumbled about three steps to the right.

"I don't wanna go home," Yokozawa muttered.

"But what about Sorata?"

Yokozawa seemed to consider this, then sighed and said, "I need to feed Sorata."

As they headed out onto the street, Aikawa finally managed to say, "So where have you been all this time?"

"Huh?" Yokozawa squinted at her. "I have a life outside you, you know."

"Well I know that." Aikawa giggled, not offended in the least. "Everyone says you've been spending a lot of time with the head editor of Japun."

"Oh. Him." Yokozawa sighed and let Aikawa push him into the taxi she'd called.

"Yes him! So spill!" Aikawa was sparkling almost literally, and Yokozawa squinted at her.

"He's overbearing, a tease, and he's obsessed with his daughter."

"And?" Aikawa couldn't help but smile when she realized Yokozawa had fallen asleep there in his seat. Maybe she'd get what she wanted later, and it'd go directly to Usami-sensei.

**It actually is a canon fact that Yokozawa and Aikawa are drinking buddies. Sometimes Mino joins them too, apparently.**


	5. Nostalgia: Being Honest

Being Honest

It wasn't that Ritsu really wanted to help Takano-san. If he had a choice, he probably wouldn't have. However, it was the end of the cycle, and his boss's hot water had given out. If there was nothing else one needed at the end of an Emerald cycle, they needed a good shower. So, Ritsu had ended up letting him use his, managing to avoid his suggestion that they 'save time' by showering together.

Ritsu felt vaguely domestic as he made dinner, making enough for Takano without even thinking about it. He'd already showered and was in his pajamas, which had amused Takano to no end. Takano, apparently, had a habit of sleeping naked. Ritsu tried not to blush when he thought about it.

"What's with you?"

Ritsu jumped in surprise and turned to see Takano was right behind him, gazing at him in an amused way. He had on the pair of pants he'd had the courtesy to bring over, but his feet were bare and so was his torso. "Nothing," Ritsu finally said, pointedly putting his eyes on his cooking. "Are you staying for dinner or should I not bother?"

"Sounds good." He gave Ritsu a winning smile before ambling over to the couch and making himself at home. Then he said, "You know, if we lived together, we could do this a lot easier."

"Do what?" Ritsu asked, scowling.

"Showering and eating together," Takano said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm an adult, Takano-san. I don't need someone there watching over me."

"What if I want to?"

Ritsu jumped in surprise when he felt Takano's arms envelop him. His skin was still warm from the shower, and despite himself, Ritsu felt himself relaxing. "What if you want to what?"

"What if I want to watch over you?"

Ritsu frowned and that and pushed him away, going back to the stir fry. "You can barely take care of yourself, what makes you think you could take care of me?" Ritsu yelped as he was flipped around and a deep kiss was placed right on his lips.

Then, Takano pressed their forehead together and said, "Because I love you."

Ritsu didn't know what to say, so he just pushed Takano away and went back to cooking.


	6. Trifecta: Being Healthy

Being Healthy

Yokozawa couldn't help but notice the frown on Hiyo's face as they made stir fry, with Kirishima looking on in amusement but holding the day's newspaper up like he thought that would imply he wasn't carefully observing them. Hiyo, Yokozawa had come to know, did not normally frown, so he put down the bag he'd been emptying pre-diced mushrooms out of and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Mushrooms are weird," Hiyo admitted. "Aren't they supposed to be a fungus? Like the kind that grows on bread if you leave it out too long?"

Yokozawa couldn't help but find that amusing, even if Hiyo was pouting by that point. "Please tell me you haven't eaten bread with mold on it."

"Once," Hiyo admitted. Her father looked startled at that, and Hiyo quickly amended, "It was on the bottom so I didn't see it! And I didn't get sick."

Kirishima sat back in his chair, looking conflicted like Hiyo had just told him she was pregnant, but not to worry, the sex was completely consensual. He noticed Yokozawa was eying him as his boyfriend and daughter went about making dinner, so he said, "What?"

Yokozawa shook his head. "Nothing," he said with a small smile. Then he turned to Hiyo. "Mushrooms are good for you, so no, it's not like bread mold. And you should probably be careful when you eat bread now, unless you want your papa hovering around you every time you open the fridge."

Hiyo giggled at the thought and went back to cutting up carrots. Well, at least someone found it all amusing.


	7. Domestica: Being A Nuisance

Being A Nuisance

Hatori was slightly perturbed as a fax was put on his desk. He just knew it would be from Chiaki, making up some excuse about why he couldn't get his pages in on time, and if he dawdled any more, Hatori would be forced to go over there and rip the pages from his cold, dead hands if need-be.

When he actually looked at the contents of the fax, though, his eyes went wide. Chiaki didn't usually fake injury, just illness, yet he said that he had to be brought to the hospital after burning his (thankfully non-dominant) hand on the stove. Boiling water for tea. That took some kind of talent that Hatori wasn't necessarily comfortable with.

"I'm going to pick up Yoshikawa-sensei's manuscript," Hatori said to no one in particular, picking up his coat and slinging it over his shoulder. His officemates had their own things to worry about, so they didn't pay much attention to him.

Once he was out on the street, Hatori dialed his cell phone. As soon as the other end of the line opened, he said, "Yoshino, please tell me you were just making an excuse when you said you burned your hand."

"Um, unfortunately not, Tori," Chiaki said, sounding sheepish. "Yuu brought me to the hospital and I'm fine. It's not like I broke my hand or anything."

As soon as Yanase Yuu's name came up, Hatori narrowed his eyes. "Which hospital are you at? I'll be over as soon as possible so tell Yanase to go back and finish the pages for you."

"I'm really fine, Tori!" Chiaki said, sounding slightly irritated. "I'm not a kid, you know!"

"Could've fooled me," Hatori muttered, but to Chiaki he said, "You know I'll end up filling out the paperwork for you, anyway."

"…true," Chiaki said, and he was clearly pouting. "I'm at Mitsuhashi General. And, Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you bring some mochi?"

"…I'll think about it."


	8. Erotica: Being A Good Neighbor

Being A Good Neighbor

When Kisa saw that Yukina wasn't going to stop spending time with him, he had relented and gotten a copy made of his key for his boyfriend's use. It wouldn't really do, after all, to have him lurking outside every night, waiting for Kisa to get home so he could be let in.

This did, however, lead to Yukina being alone as he entered Kisa's apartment more often than not, especially during Hell Week when Kisa would end up just staying overnight at the Emerald office. This wasn't really a problem for them, but on some nights, Yukina got odd stares from Kisa's neighbors. There was one in particular, an older lady who would always conveniently step out of her apartment as Yukina was unlocking Kisa's door, no matter what time Yukina actually got there.

"Excuse me," she finally said one night as Yukina searched his bag for his key. He'd dropped it in there without thinking, and now it seemed to be lost amongst all the papers for his classes and the random drawing paraphernalia he'd managed to fit in there. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a younger man lived here. Shorter than you, dark hair."

"Oh! You mean Kisa-san," Yukina said, a bright smile on his face. "Yes he does. I'm staying with him right now, so he gave me a key. I hope I didn't cause you distress, thinking I didn't belong here."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I was just curious," the woman said. "So are you two related?"

Yukina finally found his key, and as he put it in the lock he said, "No, Kisa-san is my boyfriend. We don't see each other a lot sometimes, so I decided I should stay at his place, so we can at least sleep together." He still had that bright smile on his face as he opened the door. When he'd said "sleep together" he'd meant it literally; when Kisa pulled an all-nighter, all he was really capable of was falling into bed beside Yukina and just passing out. The woman clearly thought otherwise, though. "Have a good day, ma'am."

"Yes. You, too." She simply went back into her apartment, deciding she should rethink how she approached situations like that from now on.


	9. Gen: Being Friends

Being Friends

Kisa, Ritsu decided as his coworker dragged him through the candy shop, most certainly did not act his age. He'd been assured early on that the man was in fact thirty, not twenty, but Ritsu could easily see how that mistake would be made. He looked young, for one, although Ritsu shuddered whenever he remembered Kisa's answer for that (always take in the essence of men!).

Then there were times like these, when Kisa insisted on bringing him somewhere. Today it was a huge candy shop, because Kisa had realized that the seemingly bottomless supply of candy he kept at his desk was almost depleted. What Ritsu had to do with that, he still wasn't sure.

"Ricchan!"

Ritsu stopped dead, and he and Kisa turned. It was, of course, An-chan, and Kisa looked absolutely thrilled that she knew Ritsu.

"Hello, Ricchan," An-chan said, clutching her bag to her chest and glancing at Kisa in a curious sort of way. "How are you?"

Ritsu pushed Kisa away, telling him to go find the candy he wanted, but Kisa still eavesdropped. "Oh, good."

"Have you talked to your mother lately?"

Ritsu cringed. He had not, in fact, really talked with either of his parents since his mother had gone to the hospital with stomach problems. He might've been too distracted with An-chan's warning to Takano about hurting him and subsequent events. "No, how is she doing?"

"Much better!" An-chan smiled genuinely, and the apprehension Ritsu was feeling dissolved.

"Ricchan, is this your girlfriend?" Kisa was suddenly behind Ritsu again.

An-chan looked curious, so Ritsu said, "Um, An-chan, this is my coworker, Kisa Shouta. Kisa-san, this is Kohinata An, my childhood friend."

An-chan smiled and bowed, but Kisa was still looking skeptical. "Takano-san isn't going to be happy about this, Ricchan."

"She's not my girlfriend. And they've met already, several times." Ritsu paused when he realized he didn't even address the fact that Takano shouldn't care about An because they weren't going out.

Before Ritsu knew it, however, Kisa and An were standing together at a display, debating the merits of a particular type of hard candy like they were the best of friends. Ritsu wasn't sure how he felt about this sudden development.


	10. Erotica: Being Loved

Being Loved

There was just something about waking up in someone's arms more than once, Kisa thought as he considered the light that filtered into his bedroom. A lot of the one-night stands he'd never seen again, and the few who did come back for second helpings were not the cuddling kind. Those were usually the perverts Kisa had let believe he was still a teenager. Cuddling wasn't high on their list of priorities.

Kisa did appreciate these mornings when he could wake up in Yukina's arms, though. Even in a completely naked state as they were almost always in in the morning, he was warm, and Kisa found himself wanting to drift back off to sleep despite the fact that he knew he should get up and get ready for work.

"Kisa-san?" Yukina asked. He was still half asleep, and when he saw Kisa was about to roll out of bed, he clutched him around the chest tighter and sighed in a content sort of way.

"Yukina, I have to get ready for work," Kisa muttered against his chest. Yukina seemed reluctant, but he finally let him go. "Don't you have work, too?"

"Oh yeah," Yukina said, as if he just now remembered that he even had a job. "Do you want me to make breakfast, Kisa-san?"

"Fine, whatever, I need to take a shower," Kisa muttered, and he jumped in surprise when Yukina fell into him, hugging him tightly.

"I love you, Kisa-san," Yukina said, smiling into Kisa's hair.

It helped, Kisa contemplated as Yukina got out of bed and proceeded to get dressed, to wake up in the arms of someone you love.

**After the buckets of angst I've dumped for Morning Sun I felt like this should exist. That is all.**


	11. Nostalgia: Being Jealous

Being Jealous

Sometimes, Ritsu got jealous. It wasn't like he was conscious of it, at least at first, but sometimes he'd do something like the snap the pencil he'd been holding in half as he watched Takano-san talk with a woman from another department, and Kisa would jump in surprise. Takano-san was never paying attention when these incidents happened, though, so the only thing Ritsu had to berate himself about was the fact that they weren't together and so there was no reason for him to feel such animosity towards women he didn't even know.

"Onodera."

Ritsu jumped in surprise. He'd been so focused on his most recent episode that he hadn't even noticed Takano-san had stopped talking with the woman and had ambled back into the office.

"Quit staring at me like a love-struck schoolgirl and get back to work," Takano-san continued, smacking Ritsu over the head with a file he had in his hand.

"I- was _not_," Ritsu said, quickly turning back to his computer. He didn't necessarily remember what he'd been doing, though, so he just stared at it, hoping that he looked productive enough so that Takano-san would leave him alone. Kisa was snickering beside him, and Ritsu frowned and shut his laptop. "I'm going home."

"Aw, Ricchan, don't be like that!" Kisa called, but he stayed as he was, legs folded up in Indian-style in his chair. Then Kisa looked over Takano-san, who was twitching just slightly. Kisa leaned back with a smile on his face as he said, "Ah, young love."


	12. Trifecta: Being Similar

Being Similar

Kirishima and Takano shared a habit, Yokozawa came to realize the longer they were together, and that habit was passing out after only a few steps into the apartment when things had been especially hectic. Japun and Emerald were on similar production cycles so Yokozawa shouldn't have been surprised to find Kirishima dead to the world on the floor at home around the same time Emerald went to the printers every month. If it was early in the morning Hiyo would help drag him to the bed or at least the couch. If it was late at night and Hiyo was already asleep, Yokozawa usually woke him up.

This time, it was late at night.

"You're useless you know that?" Yokozawa sighed, but Kirishima was still asleep. He'd completely missed Yokozawa's insult, though Yokozawa had to admit that something like that was a dime a dozen.

What woke Kirishima up was his cell phone going off. As soon as the ring sounded the man bolted upright, smashing into Yokozawa's head and causing him to fall backwards, yelping in pain. Kirishima seemed confused as he looked over at his boyfriend, letting the phone that had done so well to wake him up just keep ringing.

"I thought you weren't coming over today," Kirishima said calmly like none of the previous events had happened. He glanced over to the kennel containing Sorata, who was curled up and purring contentedly. Just the thought of being with Hiyo soon seemed to make him happy.

"Well it's a good thing I did," Yokozawa said. "You're setting a bad example for Hiyo, just laying there on the floor."

Kirishima scoffed and said, "She already knows about the glamorous life of a manga editor." Then he scooted across the floor to Sorata's cage and let him out. The cat bolted right for Hiyo's room like he'd never been asleep.

Then he went back over to Yokozawa and caught his lips in a kiss. It was a small one, it could even be called innocent, but Yokozawa found himself melting like he did every other time. "Ready for bed?"

Yokozawa was glad that Kirishima wasn't exactly like Takano.


	13. Erotica: Being An Artist

Being An Artist

Kisa knew Yukina had an entire sketchbook filled with drawings of him; it wasn't like Yukina tried to hide it. He'd bring it out at what Kisa saw as the most random times and just sketch him in whatever position he was in, whether that was laying in bed half-asleep after sex or doing the dinner dishes. Kisa considered himself an artist too, in a way; he'd certainly gone to university for it, even if all the drawing he ever did these days was when he had to help a manga-ka finish pages. Still, he found he didn't understand what Yukina's fascination was with drawing him.

One morning, when Kisa was the first to wake up, he glanced over at Yukina and got curious. After dressing and seeing that Yukina was still asleep, he pulled a dusty drawing pad from where it had gotten buried under a mountain of miscellaneous things he never used anymore, took a pencil from the same pile, and started sketching. Yukina was nice to look at pretty much any time of day, and that included naked, asleep with the covers twisted around his legs and his arms still positioned like he thought Kisa was there with him.

For Kisa, it was not unlike riding a bicycle, he supposed as his pencil glided across the paper. He'd been an avid drawer when he was younger, to the point where he'd considered being a manga-ka instead of an editor. After college, though, real life and the need to pay bills had smacked him in the face, and he'd given-in and put that idea to rest.

By the time Yukina woke up and Kisa quickly scrambled to close the sketchpad and put it away before his boyfriend could see, Kisa could kind of understand why Yukina had such a fascination with drawing him: it was a lot more fun to draw something you loved.


	14. Erotica: Waiting

Waiting

Kisa hated the end of the cycle. Not that he didn't always, but he had even more reason now: if Hell Week was especially bad, he could go for days without even having the time to answer Yukina's texts. That was exactly how it had gone this month, but it was even harder for the two. Yukina had a project coming up, and according to the notes he left, he was spending any free time he didn't have work or class in one of the art studios at T University.

It was good, Kisa supposed, that he was doing something with himself that didn't involve just sitting there in Kisa's apartment, waiting for him to come home in the early morning and simply flop down in bed, too lazy to change or tell him goodnight, let alone have the attention needed for sex.

He almost didn't end up going home. It was three in the morning and just thinking about the ten minute trek to his apartment made him want to cry. But he'd been at Emerald for two days already, taking snatches of sleep at his desk when possible, and he just wanted to go home and collapse on the first available surface. He hadn't passed out in his genkan in a long time, but it was suddenly appealing to him.

There was a bench further down the sidewalk, and when Kisa glanced at it as he left Marukawa, he didn't believe his eyes at first. He slowly walked up to it only to confirm his suspicions: Yukina was sitting there, asleep, with that giant pair of headphones of his over his ears and his music still going. He woke up when Kisa lightly tapped him on the shoulder, though.

"Oh, Kisa-san," Yukina said, a tired smile on his face. "Are you done with work?"

"Yeah," Kisa said. After Yukina pulled him in for a kiss he added, "How have you not been mugged? Lying asleep on a bench late at night."

"I just wanted to wait for you, Kisa-san," Yukina said as they started walking. "I finished my project."

"That's good." Kisa was too tired to act surprised when Yukina took his hand, and they actually swung their arms back and forth between them as they walked.

"Today is Saturday. You don't have work since the cycle is over, right?"

"Not today or Sunday, nope."

"Would you like to go somewhere once you've slept, Kisa-san?"

They hadn't gone out in quite a while. Usually their time spent together was at one of their apartments even when they weren't having sex. So Kisa said, "Yeah. I'd like that."

**Idea was actually taken from the One Sentence Challenge fic I did for Erotica a while back. Not all of them could be transformed into fic but I liked this idea :D**


	15. Gen: Being Useful

Being Useful

"Shit!"

"I think I've finally gone blind!"

"No, the power just went out."

"Oh."

Ritsu, being ever-useful, was the only one with a flashlight in his desk, so he brought it out and shined it around the room.

"Onodera get that thing the hell out of my face."

"Sorry, Takano-san."

Ritsu shined it over to Kisa.

"Ricchan, could I borrow that for a minute?"

"Huh? Sure."

Ritsu handed the flashlight to Kisa, who smiled his thanks before wandering away with it. He wondered what Kisa intended to do, considering the entire building was out of power. Ritsu glanced across the way, and sure enough, it was probably at least the entire block. Takano-san was cursing over at his desk, but with no lights, Ritsu couldn't see him.

"Found you!"

Ritsu jumped in surprise and whirled around to see Kisa had only gone as far as the doorway, and he was shining the flashlight on a couple women from the Sapphire department who had been lying in wait.

"It's not a good idea so stand there when we can't see you," Kisa said, rolling the light over both of them. "Or were you expecting something?"

"Of course we were!" one of them said in a huffy way before they both stomped down the hallway before Takano-san could give them a dressing-down. Kisa, whose face could be seen just barely, looked amused.

**Lack of power does strange things to people. The power was out for two hours this evening, and while I read by emergency light, I heard others yell things like "Halt! I have a penis!" Yeah.**


	16. Erotica: Being Happy

Being Happy

The first time Yukina visited Kisa at the Emerald office, he'd been surprised. It was the start of the cycle that Kisa was always talking about so they wouldn't be zombies and there wouldn't be a landmine field of paperwork to step around. He'd just wanted to bring Kisa his lunch, since he'd left it behind.

When he'd gone up to the office, he'd seen Kisa there, sitting in a pink and floral-print chair. He was laughing and grinning and calling his neighbor 'Ricchan' without a care in the world. Yukina had been just shocked enough so that he stood there until Kisa spotted him himself and the lunch was handed-off.

That night, when Kisa came home, Yukina had been drawing. The image of Kisa smiling at his coworker like that was stuck in his mind, and the only way to resolve the problem he had with it was to get it out onto paper. He only looked up when Kisa was hanging over his shoulder.

"Do you always have to draw me?" he asked, clearly having dropped the attitude he had in the office earlier that day.

"I was just… interested in how you looked earlier," Yukina muttered, putting his pencil down and pulling Kisa down into a kiss.

"How I looked?"

"Yes. I guess the word would be… bubbly. And happy." Yukina smiled in what might've looked like a sad way if Kisa had been astute enough to catch it.

Kisa just sighed and walked around the couch so he could sit beside Yukina. Then he leaned against his side, letting his eyes fall shut. "That's not how I really am, you know."

"You're… not happy most of the time, Kisa-san?"

Kisa shot up at that, looking slightly pissed-off. But then the expression melted into something softer.

"I act that way because people expect me to. The guys at Emerald, the other people at Marukawa, even the guys I slept with in the past. I don't think Ricchan even knows how old I actually am."

The smile was back on Yukina's face, and he stood up and looked towards the kitchen, like he just realized that maybe he should make dinner. But then he turned to Kisa and said, "Kisa-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you have a nickname for me?"

"What, like Ricchan?" Kisa looked annoyed just at the thought. "I'm not calling you Yuki-chan."

"Why not?"

Kisa blushed and took a pillow, burying his face in it so Yukina couldn't see it.

Yukina smiled as he went to the kitchen. Maybe Kisa was more like that persona he used at Emerald than he thought.


	17. Erotica: Going Out

Going Out

Yukina had some strange ideas about what constituted spending time with Kisa. Kisa had been able to escape Emerald with the first of his storyboards just after lunch. He knew he'd catch hell from Takano about it later, but he just wanted to sit at home and work, away from the chaos.

Of course, Yukina just mentioned once that some of his friends from university had asked him to play basketball and Kisa knew he was going to be dragged along to watch.

"What's with the shrimp?" one of the guys asked as Kisa pointedly ignored them and just set up on the bleachers, using a binder as a flat surface to work on. Yukina had convinced him to go, but he couldn't convince him to sit there, cheering like a mindless fan.

"Kisa-san doesn't get out of his apartment much, so I thought I'd bring him along," Yukina said with a smile. They were on an outdoor court and it was mildly cold. Yukina had given his jacket for Kisa to wear, since he hadn't picked one up when they left, and he was slightly disappointed that it was still just laying there beside him.

It was only when they'd worn themselves out, not really keeping score of baskets, that one of Yukina's friends seem to make a connection. While the others were busy talking and taking drinks from water bottles, he walked right up to Kisa and said, "So, what, are you his girlfriend's little brother?"

"What?" Kisa asked, confused.

"Yukina's always talking about the girl he's going out with. How cute and sweet and amazing she is," he said, rolling his eyes in a way that made it clear Kisa was supposed to empathize with him about how ridiculous it was.

Kisa gathered his storyboards back into his bag, along with the binder he'd been writing on. "Did Yukina ever specifically mention a woman?"

"How the hell should I remember?"

Kisa just rolled his eyes and went over to Yukina, who had extracted himself from his other friends at that point. Yukina's eyes lit up and he started chattering away as they walked, saying something about getting dinner, though not before giving him a quick kiss and telling him how happy he was that Kisa came out with him that day.

"He's _that_ Kisa-san?" one of the guys asked, watching them leave.

"Apparently."

"Didn't Yukina mention 'Kisa-san' is awesome at blowjobs at one point?"

"Well you asked him and he didn't deny it."

All three were confused over how they should feel about this particular revelation.


	18. Erotica: Defending

Defending

Yukina winced as Kisa put an ice pack to his cheek. It was times like this that Kisa regretted how so very scrawny he was. Just because he was in a steady relationship didn't mean the men who knew about his reputation didn't still try to approach him. Or, in this case, a man he'd slept with in the past. While Yukina hadn't had trouble in the past with dealing with these men, this one had gotten one good jab in before he met the pavement.

"You don't have to do all that you know," Kisa muttered. "He would've left us alone if we just kept walking."

"That first one didn't," Yukina pointed out. "I would've thought you knew about that type of man by now, Kisa-san."

"And what type of man is that?"

"He was willing to hurt you to get what he wanted."

Kisa just glanced off to the side, uncomfortable with where their conversation had gone. Yukina slipped his hand over Kisa's, which was still holding the ice pack in place. When Kisa tried to pull his hand away, Yukina kept it there firmly, and then he leaned in and kissed his boyfriend.

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" Kisa asked once Yukina had leaned back, laying his head against the top of the couch. "You're going to get arrested one of these days."

"If it meant one of those men didn't get their hands on you, I wouldn't mind, Kisa-san," Yukina said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, well, I would. I don't like the idea of dating a convict." Kisa just glared at Yukina when he started laughing and threw a pillow at him.


	19. Gen: Being Worried

Being Worried

Yokozawa was the first one to get off work, and he'd gotten a text from Kirishima telling him he'd probably be late and to not wait up. So, he'd gotten a bag of candy for Hiyo at a convenience store and headed over. Despite Hiyo's insistence, Yokozawa didn't like the idea of leaving her alone in the house for too long. She had Sorata, but Yokozawa doubted Kirishima aspired to raise a crazy cat lady.

"I'm home," Yokozawa called. He could smell Hiyo's special curry cooking, and he smiled at it. He'd never known food to make him so happy before he met Hiyo. By then he was regretting the nights he didn't or couldn't go home to the Kirishimas. He still usually ate bentos when he was left to his own devices.

"Oniichan!" Hiyo called from the kitchen. Yokozawa expected her to run out and hug him, but instead, he heard a crash and a shriek. Yokozawa's eyes went wide, and he ran in to see what had happened.

"Hiyo!" Yokozawa said, seeing Hiyo sitting there on the floor, wincing. The stool she always used to reach high shelves had toppled over on its side beside her, and it was clear she had fallen from it. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Hiyo said, carefully standing up. She looked forlornly at her stool and picked it up, looking it over. It didn't seem like it had broken because of her fall. "Please don't tell Papa that happened, Oniichan."

Suddenly, Yokozawa realized that in his haste to get to Hiyo and make sure she was okay, he hadn't removed his shoes in the genkan. "I won't tell Papa if you don't tell him I came in with my shoes on."

Hiyo giggled at that and nodded. Yokozawa's eyes went to her left elbow, which was scraped and bleeding, and she frowned. "I think there are bandages in the First-Aid kit. Papa brought home some Za Kan ones a while back. They're kind of weird."

Yokozawa cracked another smile and patted Hiyo on the head. "Yes, well, Papa's weird."

"I keep telling him that but he doesn't listen to me!" Hiyo's cheeks puffed out in frustration as Yokozawa reached for the First-Aid kit, which had been relegated to one of those high shelves Hiyo could only reach with her stool's assistance. "Maybe you should tell him, Oniichan."

"I tell him that every single day."


	20. Erotica: Being Vigilant

Being Vigilant

Kisa was waiting for Yukina so they could leave. His boyfriend's shift at the bookstore had ended about five minutes previously, and he'd since gone into the back room to change into his street clothes before they left. While he waited, Kisa simply read a book, doing his best to absolutely _not_ look like he was casting glances towards the back of the store where Yukina had disappeared. That would make him as bad as the fangirls who visited him every day just hoping to get a sideways glance and a dose of sparkles.

He could hear Yukina talking to someone a little ways away, but he kept his book up. He wasn't really reading it at that point, but he didn't want to look too desperate, even though Yukina would never say he did. Kisa did have his dignity to keep, after all, even though a lot of it had been lost by that point.

"Kisa-san!" Yukina called. Kisa pointedly kept his eyes on the book and ignored his boyfriend as he got closer. Well, right up until Yukina leaned in behind the book and gave him a kiss on the lips. Kisa stood frozen, too shocked to really say anything where he usually would've admonished Yukina for such a public display of affection.

When Yukina pulled away, a smile on his face, Kisa scowled and said, "What was that for?"

"That girl over there has been watching you this entire time," Yukina said, pointing towards a girl Kisa had been too busy being inconspicuous to notice. When he did, she yelped and quickly hid behind the shelves. "You need to be more vigilant, Kisa-san."

"What for?"

"She was clearly interested in you," Yukina said with a smile as Kisa put the book back.

"I suppose you'd be an expert on telling if someone is interested in a person."

"Well I was correct with you, wasn't I?" Just for effect, Yukina brought Kisa's hand up and gave it a kiss and a smile. "Shall we go?"

By then there was a group of people staring at them, so Kisa nodded and took his hand back, trying to ignore Yukina's sparkly aura, which was at full-force by that point.

**Inspired by this picture: i527 . photobucket . com / albums / cc355 / MissMysty / kisaandyukina . jpg. It was so pretty that I had to do something for it XD**


	21. Trifecta: Being Helpful

Being Helpful

When Kirishima got home one night, it was to the rather heart-warming sight of Yokozawa sitting on the couch, a needle and thread in hand as he sewed-up a rip in a pair of Hiyo's pants. Hiyo herself was in the kitchen, making dinner as she always did. Instead of calling out his arrival, Kirishima slipped off his shoes and snuck in. It didn't look like Yokozawa had noticed him because of how hard he was concentrating on his task.

"I didn't know you could sew," he said, leaning over the back of the couch. Yokozawa jumped in surprise, accidently sticking himself with the needle and yelling out in pain. "Geeze, calm down, it was just an observation."

"Would you not _do_ that?" Yokozawa asked with a glare. He carefully pulled the needle out from where it was poking into his hand and winced at the small dot of blood that was produced now that the wound wasn't plugged up.

Kirishima put his elbow on the back of the couch and his chin in his hand. "In case you forgot, this is my apartment. I think I have the right to walk around in it."

Yokozawa just gave him another vague glare before going back to his task. "I used to sew a lot. The stuffed animals at Emerald are the first sacrifice when the cycle goes bad."

"And what, Takano's too busy being the Demon Editor-in-Chief to know simple maintenance tasks like that?" There was a playful smile on Kirishima's face that he knew Yokozawa was pointedly ignoring.

"Don't give me that, Hiyo said you can't sew, either."

"Yes, but I make up for it in many, many ways."

Yokozawa turned at that, and they locked eyes for all of five seconds before Hiyo called out, "Papa, stop teasing Niichan!"

Kirishima's smile became more genuine. "Sorry, Hiyo. Sorry, _Niichan_."


	22. Trifecta: Being Public

Being Public

Yokozawa often mused that maybe he should quit smoking. He'd been avoiding the smoking rooms in Marukawa because whenever he went, he always seemed to find Takano there, and the conversations always led to places he didn't want them to. Admittedly those places were just what he'd been doing lately, but that answer was spending time with Hiyo and Kirishima, and that wasn't something he was ready to tell Takano just yet.

So he usually found himself on the roof, feeling not unlike a teenager smoking a cigarette during school, trying to stay under the radar of teachers who would get him in trouble. The sales department was running a major campaign, though, and so he'd felt obligated to tell Henmi he was there in case something came up and they needed him before he decided to go back in of his own accord. It was Kirishima, though, not Henmi, who found him first.

"You look rather ashamed to be up here," Kirishima said with a wry smile.

"Don't you have work to do?"

"It's my lunch break," Kirishima answered nonchalantly. "Am I not allowed to enjoy my lunch break?"

"Only you would call standing up on the roof in the blistering summer heat enjoyable," Yokozawa said, rolling his eyes. His cigarette was almost at its end, though, and he didn't feel like taking out another, so he stubbed it out in the public ashtray that had recently been placed there and turned to leave. "I need to get back in, though."

"What, leaving me already?" Kirishima didn't even try to sound hurt. Yokozawa could see through his acts pretty well after just a few months of being together. Instead he took Yokozawa's sleeve, pulled him back and said, "Just one for the road."

Yokozawa's eyes went wide when Kirishima kissed him, and he ended up staggering back against the tall ashtray. Kirishima casually put his hands on either side of Yokozawa's head, keeping it in place so he could push his tongue in and pull an unintended moan from his partner.

Kirishima heard the heavy, metal door open, but Yokozawa didn't. He did, however, hear Henmi say, "Yokozawa-san, we need you to print out the sales data for-" Henmi stopped dead at the scene that was presented to him, and all Yokozawa could do was turn red in a mix of anger and embarrassment before pushing Kirishima away. "Y-Yokozawa-san?"

"The sales data for what?" Yokozawa asked, his voice gruff in an attempt to make up for the way Henmi was looking between him and Kirishima.

Henmi finally realized he should probably finish his request, and he did so as the door closed behind the both of them. Kirishima just smiled impishly to himself and decided to wait for a while so he wouldn't accidently meet up with the two on an elevator or something. He knew when to hold back.

**Based off one of the sentences from my Trifecta 1 Sentence Challenge. Feel free to tell me if there's another you'd like to see :D**


	23. Gen: Being Introduced

Being Introduced

Yokozawa should've known better than to mention he was staying with Kirishima that night after he was done drinking with Aikawa. He had done his best to not be raging drunk since he had to go home to Hiyo, but Aikawa's ear had perked up at the mention and she'd insisted that she escort him 'home' so nothing would happen to him. He'd done his best not to be raging drunk, but he was still weak and incoherent enough that Aikawa simply blew through his protests.

The minute they were through the door, unlocked so Kirishima must have been home and still awake, Hiyo burst out of her room with a cry of, "Oniichan!"

Yokozawa frowned. "Hiyo, shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

"Papa said I could stay up in case you got home, since he's in the shower and thought you'd need help," Hiyo said with a smile. Then she looked at Aikawa curiously. The woman was currently wide-eyed, and Yokozawa knew that look, but Hiyo didn't.

"Uh, Hiyo, this is Aikawa-san. She's a friend of mine and Papa's from work." Well more just him; Yokozawa couldn't say he'd seen Aikawa and Kirishima have more than basic interactions. "Aikawa, this is Kirishima's daughter, Hiyori."

With the awkward introductions done, Aikawa squealed in delight and kneeled down. "I didn't know Kirishima-san had a daughter! She's so cute!"

Hiyo smiled politely and bowed. "It's nice to meet you, Aikawa-san."

"Aikawa-san just wanted to make sure I got home safely. She's very busy." Yokozawa gave Aikawa a meaningful look, and the woman seemed to understand because she nodded and stood up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight!" Aikawa said cheerfully. She hadn't even taken off her shoes so she was able to leave right away. Yokozawa, however, had the distinct feeling that she was off to phone Akikawa Yayoi, but he didn't have the strength to make a fuss about it.


	24. Gen: Being Alone

Being Alone

Getting out of the Japun offices near the end of the cycle was usually a blessing. However, for Kirishima, when it involved visiting Ijuuin Kyo, it just got more stressful.

Ijuuin-sensei was currently passed-out in a mess of papers, unshaved and wild-haired. He'd called the office to say he was done and had sent his assistants home, but in the mass-exodus to leave, none of them had thought to grab the pages so they could drop them off at Japun. So, instead of being able to finally go home, Kirishima found himself ringing Ijuuin-sensei's doorbell at ten at night and having to let himself in when there was no response.

"You know, I'm quite aware of the fact that you make enough money to have a maid," Kirishima said, kicking energy drink cans out of the way as he went to dig out his star author.

Ijuuin-sensei groaned, clutching the manga pages to his chest like they were the only anchors to what little was left of his sanity. "I don't need more people seeing me like this."

"Maybe you should get a wife, then," Kirishima said absentmindedly. He managed to pry the pages from Ijuuin-sensei's grasp and flipped through them.

Ijuuin groaned in pain again before saying "No woman can put up with our professions. Considering you're not wearing that ring anymore, I thought you'd know that firsthand."

Kirishima just shrugged and placed the pages in his bag. If he was lucky, he could get into the printers and they'd be able to start the print run of that month's Japun issue. "That ring was just so women wouldn't ask me out. You're right, I don't have time for that."

Ijuuin-sensei let out a harsh laugh before collapsing back onto the floor. Kirishima didn't even bother to wake him up and tell him to go lay in his bed properly. As he headed out, his phone vibrated, and he opened it to see a text from Yokozawa.

_Hiyo finally went to sleep. Told her she couldn't stay up and wait for you_.

Kirishima smiled and texted back a simple, _Thanks_.


	25. Erotica: Being Open

Being Open

The first time Yukina managed to convince Kisa to pick him up at T University from an evening class, Yukina's friends noticed Yukina was sparkling a lot. He didn't actually do that in class or when he was around them, except if he was doing a presentation or trying to ingratiate himself with someone. So the fact that he had such a blinding aura about him threw them off and they didn't even notice Kisa.

The second time, they did notice Kisa. However, he and Yukina left fairly quickly so they never got approach him.

So, the next day during a break between classes they had together, Yukina's friends decided to approach.

"Who's that kid who keeps coming to see you?" one asked as they sat on the edge of a large planter, drinking canned green tea and covered in paint.

"Kid?" Yukina asked, not immediately thinking of Kisa. Perhaps his friends had noticed one of the girls from the bookstore who sometimes came to see him when they found out he was a student there.

"The one you always leave with."

Yukina's face lit up. "Ah, you mean Kisa-san."

"I guess," his friend said, waving his hand like the guy's name wasn't important. "Is he your brother or something?"

"Ah, no. Kisa-san is my boyfriend."

At that Yukina's friend started choking on the green tea he'd been gulping down, and he took great, gasping breaths, trying to compose himself. "That kid is your _boyfriend_?"

"He's not a kid. In fact Kisa-san is older than us," Yukina said, as if that was the issue.

He watched with concern as his friend just stood up, grumbling, "He's gay and he _still_ gets more girls than I do. How is that fair?" before he walked away.


	26. Trifecta: Being Festive

Being Festive

Christmas Eve was on a Saturday that year, and because of that, all three members of the Kirishima household were home. Yes, all three, because Kirishima had made it clear that Yokozawa was counted in that number.

"Papa, four!" Hiyo had pointed out when Sorata glanced up from where he'd been taking a nap on the couch.

"Ah, yes, of course," Kirishima conceded, and Hiyo had gone back to brushing Sorata's fur and humming to herself.

The problem with being in the Kirishima apartment, Yokozawa had found over the past week or so, was that Kirishima adored Christmas carols. Specifically English Christmas carols. Yokozawa was by no means ignorant of the English language, but walking in late at night to some singer with a strange accent bellowing Jingle Bells at him was jarring, to say the least. December was always a hard month, what with how many days off they got between Christmas and New Year's. He just wanted to relax after getting paperwork done in double time.

On Christmas Eve, Hiyo had insisted that she and Yokozawa bake cookies before they went out to get fried chicken. Yokozawa couldn't say he remembered the last time he'd had fried chicken on Christmas Eve with someone else. It certainly hadn't been the previous year, when the only person he could've shared it with was Takano, and Takano had disappeared, not even answering his calls.

"Would you turn that music down?" Yokozawa said gruffly as he rolled up his sleeves, getting ready to throw the batter on the table so he and Hiyo could use cookie cutters on it.

"What's wrong with the music?" Kirishima asked innocently. He was sitting at the table, but because both Hiyo and Yokozawa knew how useless he was in the kitchen, he'd been banned from touching the cookies until they were done.

"I don't see how you can't be tired of the same songs playing over and over for days is all," Yokozawa said.

"I like them, Oniichan!" Hiyo said, and Yokozawa just shook his head. Apparently that was that.

A new song came up, one Yokozawa hadn't heard yet. His ears perked up when he realized it was I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Yokozawa just shook his head and went back to work. He'd never understand those silly little songs.

"Hmm, I wonder if I still have that Santa suit from a few years ago," Kirishima said, looking contemplative as the song continued.

Yokozawa stopped cold at that. Hiyo didn't seem to understand the implications and said, "Papa, I'm too old for that. Besides, you're too thin to be Santa Claus." She poked one powdered sugar-covered finger at Kirishima's belly before picking up a cookie cutter in the shape of a snowman.

"You wouldn't," Yokozawa hissed when Hiyo wasn't paying attention.

Kirishima considered this, pulling free a tiny bit of the cookie dough and chewing on it thoughtfully. Then he said, "I guess you'll have to see."


	27. Trifecta: Being Up Early

Being Up Early

It was four-fifty-nine in the morning when Yokozawa was jolted awake by extra weight carefully lowering itself onto his mattress. He'd set his alarm for five, just so he could make breakfast before Hiyo came running out to open presents. Apparently, Christmas was the only time it was okay to be up that early for her. Not that he'd ever seen Kirishima have a hard time waking her up. Whenever he was there, she tended to be up before him, bounding into the room and jumping onto the mattress.

He half expected it to be Hiyo there at the foot of his bed, but the descent hadn't been violent enough. He ignored the person until his alarm went off, after which he turned it off and ignored the dark outline of Kirishima.

"What?" Kirishima asked. "I was just going to point out that I put up some new decorations."

Yokozawa rolled his eyes. Kirishima thought he'd been sneaky when he came home with dinner and had that extra bag of plastic mistletoe (yes, plastic, because Yokozawa had said in passing once that real mistletoe was poisonous to cats and leave it to Kirishima to remember).

"Yeah, yeah, just get out of here."

It was only when Yokozawa was at the stove making pancakes that he realized it wasn't just the doorway Kirishima had put mistletoe over. It was everywhere, and that included the exact spot Yokozawa tended to stand at when he was cooking at the stove. When he looked up and realized it was there, he didn't have enough time to step out from under it before Kirishima was kissing him.

"Hiyo's going to be awake any minute," Yokozawa muttered against his lips.

"I can just tell her I got her a mommy for Christmas," Kirishima answered with a smirk.

"Jackass."

"Papa, Oniichan isn't a girl," Hiyo called, and Yokozawa jumped away from Kirishima as Hiyo came running into the kitchen, clad in fluffy blue pajamas with snowmen on them and her feet bare. Even though she'd heard Kirishima's remark, if she'd seen them kissing, she wasn't letting on. "Merry Christmas, Oniichan!"

"What, I don't get a merry Christmas?" Kirishima asked, looking hurt as he made himself useful and took out the orange juice.

"You got one earlier. I still think you're weird for putting up all that mistletoe," Hiyo said, sitting down at the table and cupping her chin in her hands.

"Don't you want a Christmas kiss from Yokozawa?" Kirishima asked, looking innocent as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I think _you_ want one, Papa," Hiyo said. Yokozawa's blood ran cold until she added, "I would've given you one, anyway."

"My mistake," Kirishima said, smirking behind his coffee mug.

Yokozawa just shook his head. These two would be the death of him.


	28. Erotica: Being Affectionate

Being Affectionate

Christmas Eve was the first time Kisa had been able to spend the entire day with Yukina in quite a long time, and though he was tired, he was determined to take advantage of it. Bunkyo was busy as it should've been on Christmas Eve, and even just walking along the streets window shopping caused Yukina to attract attention.

Yukina seemed to understand that this irritated Kisa, because he smiled and said, "We didn't need to go out today, Kisa-san. I would've been happy staying home."

"I'm fine," Kisa huffed. It was getting dark, and stores were starting to turn on their Christmas light displays. "Besides, I wanted to see all this with you." He muttered that last part, but Yukina had clearly heard him. Kisa yelled and pushed Yukina away when he tried to hug him. "_What_ have I said about public affection?"

Yukina wilted a little, but some semblance of a smile came back when he looked all around. Christmas songs were playing from shops, displays hummed and lit up as they walked by, and when it came right down to it, he was on a date with Kisa on Christmas Eve. There really was nothing he could complain about.

Eventually, though, Kisa couldn't put up with his expression anymore, and he huffed and took his boyfriend's hand. He pretended to be looking into a shop so he didn't have to see the way Yukina lit up, even though he could feel the power from the sparkly aura.

He knew that people were probably stopping to look at them, because people always stopped to look at Yukina. But it was Christmas, after all. Kisa could at least give him this.


	29. Erotica: Being Drunk

Being Drunk

Kisa went out drinking with the Emerald editors on December twenty-third, to celebrate the end of the cycle and the end of the year. What Kisa didn't expect as they all tumbled out of the izakaya late at night was that Yukina had been waiting for him.

"Who is that?" Takano-san was the first to notice Yukina, over down the sidewalk, drinking a cup of coffee. He kept looking over at the building, though, and when he noticed Kisa leaving, he smiled and joined them.

"Are you ready to go home, Kisa-san?" Yukina asked, his hands clasped behind his back and a smile on his face as he leaned down.

"You didn't have to come get me," Kisa said, sounding pouty. When his coworkers looked confused, Kisa huffed and said, "This is Yukina Kou."

"Ah, I recognize you now. You work for Marimo Books," Takano-san said, because he was the most coherent of them all. "And you know Kisa?"

Yukina smiled radiantly as he put an arm around Kisa's shoulders. It seemed Kisa was inebriated enough to not care about public displays of affection as he usually did. "We've been going out for a few months now." He frowned when Kisa leaned forward and made strangled sounds like he was going to evacuate the contents of his stomach any second now. "I'll take him home now. Have a good night." He forwent a bow in favor of helping Kisa to his feet and dragging him along, admonishing him for drinking so much.

"Shut up, you're not my mother," Kisa said, the good mood he'd had during the drinking party diminishing.

Yukina leaned down and kissed Kisa, just briefly, and said, "No, but you're still going to bed when we get home."

Kisa grinned at that, taking another meaning from it. "If you say so."


	30. Erotica: About Winning

About Winning

The last two months, Emerald Monthly held a contest for its readers to win a giant plushie of Tinkle, the department's rabbit mascot. You could enter however many times you wanted, simply by taking the post cards from the magazine or tankobon they released during the contest and sending them in.

Kisa had no idea who had won because the month had been particularly hectic, and he was out chasing down a delinquent author when the person came in to claim their prize. That day, though, when he went home, after slipping off his shoes and making plans to just collapse into his bed and sleep for about two days, he was startled to see the thing sitting there on his couch.

"What the hell?" Kisa asked, but he had a feeling he knew. His door had been unlocked, so that meant Yukina was home. His boyfriend was, in fact, over in the kitchen making dinner for them both.

"I won it in the contest Emerald did," Yukina said with a sparkly smile.

"We had to have gotten hundreds of entries," Kisa said dully, staring at Tinkle's black, soulless eyes.

Yukina's sparkly smile turned sheepish. "I told the girls that come in to see me about the contest, but when I mentioned it would be nice to win it, they seemed to get the idea to give me all the postcards from the Emerald titles they bought. It was a lot."

Kisa sighed and flopped over onto the couch, taking Tinkle into his arms and curling into the fetal position. Yukina abandoned the stove to go greet him properly, but Kisa used Tinkle as a barrier so Yukina couldn't kiss him. "Is something the matter, Kisa-san?"

"This thing is _not_ going in the bed," Kisa muttered, but he still clung to it like his life depended on it.


	31. Trifecta: Being Thankful

Being Thankful

Despite the fact that Hiyo assured Yokozawa that she had stayed up to midnight on New Year's Eve before, she was out by eleven. When Yokozawa glanced out the window from the couch in the Kirishima's living room and saw fireworks going off, Kirishima was making drinks and Hiyo was dead asleep, her head in Yokozawa's lap. She even had a kimono on, promising that they'd all go to a shrine as soon as the new year came.

Yokozawa petted Hiyo's hair absentmindedly and supposed the first shrine visit of the year would have to wait until morning.

"Bottoms up," Kirishima said, handing Yokozawa a glass. When Yokozawa eyed it warily, Kirishima cracked a smile and said, "What? It's just beer. I thought putting it in glasses would make it look better. Unless you'd prefer those cans?"

"Whatever," Yokozawa said, and he took the glass with one hand while still keeping the other on Hiyo's head. "Happy new year, Kirishima-san."

"Happy new year," Kirishima answered, and they clinked their glasses together. They both drank in silence for a few seconds, but then Kirishima had a thought. "Was watching old American movies with us really all you had to do on New Year's Eve?"

"My parents went overseas," Yokozawa murmured. "For the Japanese, New Year's and New Year's Eve means spending time with family, so I suppose it still worked out." He frowned when Kirishima leaned in but didn't fight when he was kissed full on the lips, despite that Hiyo could've woken up.

Yokozawa expected Kirishima to say something clever or teasing, so when Kirishima just uttered a, "Thank you," and went back to draining his glass, he was so dumbfounded he couldn't really do anything else.


	32. Erotica: Trying To Bargain

Trying To Bargain

Kisa had a new author who didn't seem to be aware of how things worked in Emerald. She was two nights past the due date for her pages, and Kisa had left Takano-san and Ritsu to deal with the printers so he could go out and find the woman. Last time he knew she was at her studio, so that's where he went.

"Kisa-san!" she said when she opened the door to the studio and saw that it was him. Kisa didn't get a chance to really look at her before she pulled him into a hug, very purposefully directing his head so he could see her exposed chest from where she was wearing a simple tank top. "I know you said the due date was Tuesday but we just can't get these pages together…"

"Um, sensei, I'm gay," Kisa said with an uncomfortable cough, pointedly looking away from the cleavage she seemed to be using as a bargaining chip.

The author blinked, pushing Kisa away from her chest and folding her arms. She looked disappointed that Kisa wasn't drooling over her chest, but she sighed and asked him to come in and help finish so they could get the pages in by morning.

The next month, the author seemed to be equipped with another bargaining chip, because when Kisa showed up, even though he was let in right away, he had a feeling that something was off.

And it was. Unlike last month, the author had recruited one of the male assistants, and a rather good-looking one at that. He smile at Kisa as he sat down at the table to help put on screen tones. Before Kisa got the chance, his phone beeped, signaling a text message.

It was from Yukina, saying he'd just gotten out of work and that he'd make dinner for them if he wanted. Kisa responded that he might be at his author's studio for a while and to not wait up.

"Was that Takano-san?" the author asked as she sat down at her individual desk, switching on the light table.

"…no," Kisa said. "That was my boyfriend, asking if he needed to make dinner. I told him I wouldn't be home in time." He looked at the author very pointedly before getting to work.

She didn't really try to bargain for later deadlines after that.


	33. Erotica: Being Sick

Being Sick

Kisa wasn't sure what he ate that resulted in this, but he vowed that if he figured it out, he'd never eat it again. He'd been having stomach cramps since about seven in the morning, and as soon as his last manuscript was passed in, he automatically ran for the bathroom and started heaving up what little he had thought to shove in his mouth within the last twenty-four hours.

After about half an hour, he realized that he was perfectly able to go home since he had finished his work, but with how much he'd thrown up, he was pretty sure he didn't have the energy to move. He did, however, have the energy to call Yukina and ask him to help him home, and he lacked the dignity to care.

Yukina was there faster than Kisa expected and helping him up off the bathroom floor. "Were you just sitting at home, waiting for me to call you?" Kisa muttered as Yukina helped him over to the sink so he could wash his face and try to get rid of the taste of vomit from his mouth.

"Actually I was at work," Yukina said with a smile.

Kisa thought about that. "You were doing a morning shift on a weekday?"

"It's Saturday, Kisa-san," Yukina said, the smile never wavering. He put a hand to Kisa's forehead and frowned. "Are you sure it was just food poisoning? You're burning up."

"That's because it's about five degrees hotter in here than it is outside," Kisa muttered. The dog days of summer were not the time for Hell Week, but Hell Week knew no season. "Can we just get home?"

Yukina continued to smile as he helped Kisa out of the bathroom and to the elevator. It was almost noon, so even though there weren't as many people there as there would be on a weekday, there were plenty of people to stop and stare as one of Emerald's editors was dragged, pale-faced, out of the bathroom by a man who looked like he'd stepped out of a manga Emerald edited.

Kisa was honestly too tired to care that Yukina didn't necessarily have to be that close to get him out of there.


	34. Erotica: Being Taken Care Of

Being Taken Care Of

Kisa woke up Monday morning passed out on the couch, vaguely remembering he and Yukina had never made it to the bed last night. Kisa had slept the entire time since getting home at the end of the cycle on Saturday and they'd been kind of enthusiastic.

Yukina had already left for his morning class, though, so he was alone in the apartment. It appeared, however, that Yukina had made breakfast for him and left it on the table. Even though it'd been a few months since Yukina started regularly staying with him, Kisa still wasn't used to having meals ready for him. He still had instant ramen cups in his cupboards.

There were a couple texts on his phone, and as Kisa winced and stood up, his back stiff from sleeping on the couch, he checked them. One was from Takano-san, telling him he needed to call one of his authors when he got in, and one was from Yukina, saying he didn't have to work and that his afternoon class was cancelled since his professor was sick. The implication seemed to be that he wanted to meet Kisa for lunch.

Kisa sighed and put his phone down, going for the rice and tea kept warm in the microwave. There were hints of Yukina being there all over the apartment, from the painting of Kisa he'd been able to take home since it was already graded to the Tinkle plushie he'd won in a Marukawa contest. He left it behind on the days when he didn't stay with Kisa, and Kisa always found himself dragging it into bed, thinking it strange to not have someone there with him.

It was strange to be taken care, Kisa had decided a long time ago, but he still thought this when he realized that Yukina had also kept his apartment clean. Before, it would've looked like a bomb was dropped on it because Kisa only ever had the energy to clean the first week of the cycle.

Kisa glanced over at the active dryer, though, realizing that Yukina had done the neglected laundry before leaving for class. Maybe it wasn't so bad.


	35. Nostalgia: Hiding

Hiding

Ritsu loved the spring when the cherry blossoms were at their height, but he loved the summer even more. When summer vacation came along, his father would always come home with a washcloth pressed to his brow, complaining that the accountants at Onodera Shuppan had gone another year without thinking that the company needed to budget for air conditioning and _why_, exactly, did they think it necessary to expect to see him in a suit when everyone else was dressing-down by June?

But for Ritsu, the time meant time alone to read. Or, in the case of this summer, time with Saga-sempai, even if it was just spent locked-away in his air-conditioned bedroom. This particular time, Saga-sempai had wasted no time in getting to the point, and Ritsu's thin t-shirt was gone by the time either of them realized they were not alone in the house.

"It's just my parents," Saga-sempai said, pulling away from the searing kiss they had been sharing until they both heard someone yelling in the kitchen. "If we're quiet enough they won't even realize we're here."

"B-but, shouldn't we say hello?" Ritsu asked, clutching at his discarded shirt.

"Don't leave when I'm talking to you!" came the voice of a woman, Saga-sempai's mother, Ritsu guessed. Ritsu flinched away at the harsh tone and slammed door.

"No," Saga-sempai said simply.

"Shouldn't you see what's wrong, at least?" Ritsu asked. His parents never fought like that.

Saga-sempai looked at Ritsu. He was trembling from a combination of the artificially crisp air from the air conditioner and a fear that Saga himself had gotten rid of a long time ago. He just shook his head.

Finally, his mother locked herself up in the bathroom and Saga-sempai went for the bedroom door. "Do you want to go to the library?"

Ritsu nodded enthusiastically. They hadn't yet been to the local library together. It had a bigger collection, and perhaps Ritsu could learn more of Saga-sempai's interests when it came to books. He quickly pulled his shirt back on. As Saga-sempai pulled the door closed behind them both, he briefly wondered when would be a good time to tell Ritsu that his mother was thinking of moving and bringing him with her.


	36. Erotica: Being A Good Citizen

Being A Good Citizen

Kisa could be thankful for one thing, at least: he had cleared out all the men he slept with in the past from his phone's contacts. He could mostly be thankful for this because it was Hell Week and on a mad subway dash, he didn't notice his phone slip right out of his pocket. He mostly used his landline during Hell Week anyway.

A girl in a local high school's uniform found it. She picked it up and waited a few minutes, but no one came back for it.

So, she flipped through the contacts and, seeing one labeled as a cell phone, texted someone named 'Yukina Kou' that the owner of the cell phone had lost it. She quickly got a text back saying he'd be more than happy to return it to him, since the owner was probably busy. She ended up agreeing to meet in the shojo section of Marimo Books.

This girl was not, in fact, one of the many who visited Yukina every day, but she still recognized him. The name tag helped, of course, but the sparkly aura was certainly nothing a hormonal, teenage girl could forget.

"You said you had Kisa-san's cell phone?" Yukina asked after they introduced themselves.

"Ah, yes, here," the girl said, and she took it out of her bag, purposefully brushing Yukina's hand as she passed it off.

"Thank you," Yukina said with a sparkly smile. "Kisa-san is always so busy this time of month, he'd probably forget his head if it weren't attached."

"Ah, yes," the girl said, only half listening. "Are you two related?"

"No, Kisa-san is my boyfriend," Yukina said, smiling down at the cell phone. Then he bowed and said, "I should get back to work. Have a nice day."

The girl just stood there, feeling as if a storm were raging solely around her.

Dreams.

Crushed.


	37. Nostalgia: Being Hurt

Being Hurt

Takano was not a man who slowed down just because of setbacks. In fact, when authors, printers, or his coworkers wouldn't cooperate with him, he was known to just plow through anyway and get things done exactly the way he had planned in the first place. Nothing could stop him. Not even, it seemed, a broken leg.

The elevators in Marukawa had been out of order for the day so he'd had to take the stairs, and in his mad dash to find an author and collect pages, he'd tripped and fallen down an entire flight. Someone called an ambulance, and Hatori had offered to go with him. Ritsu had ended up doing so, though, since all his material was in and Hatori was still waiting for Yoshikawa Chiharu.

"I still have work," Takano protested after he had been treated and the doctor was going over what he needed to do to recover. "I can't just sit on my ass at home all day."

"I called Emerald and Mino-san agreed to pick up Ichinose-sensei's pages," Ritsu said, his first full sentence since Takano had been brought into his recovery room. When the doctor eyed him, Ritsu said, "He's my boss."

The doctor nodded. "Well, please make sure he gets home and rests. Strenuous activity could cause the bone to heal wrong." He eyed Takano. "And I'm sure you don't want to live the rest of your life with a limp, Takano-san."

"Yeah, yeah," Takano said with a sigh, sitting back further on the hospital bed. The doctor left to get the patient discharge paperwork, and Takano immediately set his sights on Ritsu. "You hear that? The doctor said you need to make sure I get home."

"He also said no strenuous physical activity," Ritsu shot back, but he couldn't meet Takano's eye.

Takano sighed. "You're no fun, Onodera."


	38. Trifecta: Being A Fan

Being a Fan

It was one of those odd days where both Yokozawa and Kirishima had the day off and they would've _liked_ to do something with each other, but Hiyo was there too and Yokozawa was still uncomfortable with expressing affection towards Kirishima when she was around. It ended up that around lunch time, Kirishima's mother called and they ended up being roped into helping her move boxes out of the attic for sorting. It had, apparently, been too long since she'd gotten rid of some of the things she never used anymore.

Yokozawa and Hiyo ended up in the dusty attic with Kirishima's mother, though; Kirishima himself stayed down with his father, claiming he had terrible allergies and he'd just get in the way. Yokozawa wasn't sure if he should believe him or if the man was as useless in these kinds of household chores as he was in the kitchen.

"Grandma, what are these?" Hiyo asked after dragging out a box and opening them. Yokozawa abandoned his own to look, curiosity getting the better of him, and he saw that it was full of manga.

"Ah, that's your papa's old collection of shonen manga," Kirishima's mother said. She used a cloth to wipe some sweat from her brow. "He'd never admit it, but he was so enthusiastic about shonen growing up. Especially ones involving martial arts. He begged to take karate classes in junior high."

Yokozawa couldn't help but snicker at that. Kirishima was only five years older than him, so he recognized most of the titles in the box as being ones he himself had consumed growing up; Yokozawa hadn't been too picky about what he read as long as it provided a distraction.

Hiyo ended up picking out a title her grandmother had said was Kirishima's favorite and climbing down the ladder so she could find a comfy spot and read it.

"Did he really own all of these?" Yokozawa asked. It was a big box; about twice as wide as him and as tall as his knees.

Kirishima's mother grinned. "That's just the first box. There are three others piled here somewhere."


	39. Erotica: Being Cute

Being Cute

Kisa looked almost hilarious to Yukina as he came in dressed to ward off the rain. He had on a large, yellow raincoat and a hat, along with rain boots that seemed about two sizes too large for him. He made clomping noises as he walked around in the genkan, and he made squeaking noises as he got rid of his soaking coat and hat. He'd never seen Kisa like that before, and if he had to tell the truth, it kind of reminded him why he thought Kisa was a young kid rather than his true age of thirty.

"I've never seen you wear a raincoat before, Kisa-san," Yukina said mildly from where he was sitting on the couch, a sketchbook in his lap. He was supposed to be coming up with concept drawings for a project in his studio class, and instead he found himself drawing Kisa again. When his boyfriend walked over though, the raincoat gone, he flipped the book shut.

Kisa sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. "It was raining too hard for just an umbrella. But I don't usually wear that outfit anymore. The last time I did a guy ended up picking me up and he called me cute all night."

Yukina wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that; sometimes Kisa would tell him things about his past sex life so blatantly, and other times he refused to talk about it. This was one of Kisa's nonchalant times, it seemed. So, in the end, he decided that standing up and attending to their dinner was the best thing to do. "Well," he said from the stove as he stirred a pot of stew. "You _are_ cute, Kisa-san."

Kisa snorted and fell over onto the couch. "Of course you think so."

"I thought so the first time I saw you, too," Yukina said. He turned the burner on low and went back over to the couch just so he could kiss Kisa. "And I haven't changed my mind."

Kisa ducked his head and reached for his bag so he could put it between them. "Just finish dinner; I still have work to do."

"Okay, Kisa-san."


	40. Erotica: Trying

Trying

Kisa didn't clean once a month. In fact, if he had his way, he wouldn't even clean his apartment once a year. First it was just because he was too busy with work, and then it was because Yukina would always come over and do those kinds of things for him. It was like he enjoyed having his boyfriend take care of him and act like a housewife, but it was certainly better than having takeout boxes from four months ago piled around his apartment like some kind of bizarre modern art.

However, Yukina had a big project for school and had texted him to say that he wouldn't be back until late. He was staying over at Kisa's for the week, so his things were all over: sketchbooks, notebooks, random assorted manga that he had toted over from his apartment. When it came down to it, it looked like Yukina left more of a mess around than Kisa did.

He only got about as far as piling Yukina's sketchbooks together before he fell over onto the couch and just wanted to pass out. Since the cycle had ended on a Saturday that month, he hadn't had work again right afterwards. However, it was Sunday night and he still could've used about two more days' worth of sleep.

"Kisa-san?"

Kisa woke up, not aware that he had actually passed out. Yukina was home, though, so he must've been asleep for several hours.

"It's only eight o'clock, Kisa-san…" Yukina glanced around, looking surprised to see his sketchbooks neatly piled on the coffee table rather than just laying open where he had left them. "Did you clean?"

Kisa yawned, putting a hand to his mouth. "I tried. Didn't work out."

All Yukina did was smile and put his hand to Kisa's cheek, giving him a light kiss. Then he went into the kitchen, clearly intending to make dinner.

Kisa sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Maybe leaving that type of thing to Yukina was for the better, anyway.

**One of my friends on Tumblr was nice enough to draw Kisa in a raincoat. sugartitties . deviantart . com / # / d4noh67 is where it can be found. She did an amazing job, and you all were right; he's adorable :D**


	41. Erotica: Being Young

Being Young

Yukina was rather surprised that Kisa kept photo albums, let alone that they involved pictures of himself. He didn't talk much about his high school days, although Yukina suspected that was when he started the lifestyle he'd been leading up until they met. Yukina was far from judgmental, but he was curious about this time of his boyfriend's life. He had the day off and Kisa was working, so he decided to take out one of the large, thick-covered books he'd found while cleaning and look through it.

The pictures mostly alternated between Kisa and a girl that looked about Kisa's age and somewhat similar to him. He guessed the girl was his sister, or perhaps a close cousin. No offense was meant to the girl, of course, but he cared more about the pictures of Kisa that worked through his high school years: wearing a uniform as he stood in the genkan of a house, painting with his hair tied back, cheering at some kind of sports event.

He noticed though, as the pictures progressed through the years, that Kisa seemed to lose the excited spark in his eyes he'd had in the earlier pictures. Had something happened? There didn't seem to be any evidence of a traumatic event; both parents were in various pictures up until then, and there was no shortage of the girl, either.

"Yukina?"

Yukina hadn't even heard the door open, but it seemed Kisa was home. Yukina was surprised, since it was fairly early. He would never get a hang of just what his boyfriend's hours were at Emerald. He'd been sitting on the floor of Kisa's room where he'd found the album, and he quickly closed it but didn't put it away. Kisa found him there, his legs crossed and his eyes focusing on the cover.

"Are you really so bored you have to resort to looking at things like that?" Kisa asked, but he made no move to take it away or anything.

"Kisa-san, did something happen to you in high school?" Yukina asked, because he knew he'd never get the bravery to ask it again, especially if Kisa was in a bad mood later.

Kisa seemed to think about it before shaking his head. "Nah, my childhood was boring," he said. "Parents happily married, little sister who looked up to me." He was about to leave before he thought to offer, "I had sex for the first time when I was sixteen, I guess. But that's not really out of the ordinary. Anyway, I'll make dinner tonight." He eyed the photo album one more time before going back into the kitchen.

Yukina put the photo album away and followed him out. "So you weren't as happy after you started sleeping around?"

"Who said I wasn't?" Kisa asked, narrowing his eyes at the open cupboard. "I loved sex. I still do." He pulled out some rice. "Some experiences were better than others."

"Like what?" Yukina asked, actually curious. It was a part of Kisa's past and he did want to know.

Kisa blushed a bit, his eyes darting between the rice and the sink. "Well I haven't gotten rid of _you_, have I?"

Yukina grinned, holding him tightly around his forearms. "I love you, Kisa-san."

"I know."


	42. Erotica: Being A Good Student

Being A Good Student

Another thing Kisa had on his shelves was an English dictionary. It wasn't even a Japanese-to-English dictionary; just a thick, hardbound book full of English words and definitions, without a single kana in sight. When Yukina found this, he pulled it off the shelf and leafed through it. He had a fairly proficient grasp of English since he was still taking it as an elective at university, but there were still things that didn't make sense to him.

Kisa found him about fifteen minutes later after taking a shower, just sitting there on the floor and trying to figure out the less basic words that weren't included in any of his lessons. "Are my things really fascinating enough to constantly go through?" he asked as he tossed his clothes into the hamper in the corner of his room.

Yukina glanced up. "Why do you have such a large English dictionary, Kisa-san?" he asked. He'd admit that he didn't know everything about Kisa (in fact he knew very little, but it wasn't like they wouldn't have time to talk about it all) but he'd never once heard Kisa speak in English, or express interest in visiting a country where English was commonly spoken.  
>"…oh," Kisa said, recognizing the book in Yukina's lap. "I got that my freshman year of college. I took English as an elective and the professor recommended it."<p>

"Really? And you still have it?"

"Well yeah," Kisa said, and he sat down on his bed. "I ended up dropping the class but for some reason that thing has followed me around since."

"Why did you drop the class, Kisa-san?"

"Slept with the professor."

"Oh," Yukina said. There was an awkward silence that Yukina tried to fill with flipping the pages. "Do you understand all these words?"

"Probably about twenty-five percent. I was better with French."

Yukina smiled to himself as he flipped the pages. Perhaps he'd have to get Kisa to demonstrate his French abilities.

**Just a tidbit inspired from Tumblr, where I run the askkisashouta blog. Lots of good material there because the fans do not hold back XD Ah well.**


	43. Erotica: Helping New Neighbors

Helping New Neighbors

Yukina had insisted that he and Kisa go out to lunch, since this was the first time in quite a while that they could spend the entire day together. Of course Kisa had been thinking they'd just stay home and have sex, but they hadn't been out together in an even longer time, and Yukina would be the first to admit he enjoyed being seen in public with the one he loved. Even if Kisa didn't really let him do anything that would mark them as a couple.

As they got back to the apartment building and climbed the stairs, Yukina managed to get Kisa to let him hold his hand, at least. That was, until they noticed the movers in the once-empty apartment two down from him. Kisa tried to snatch his hand away, but Yukina kept it firmly, their fingers woven together. Kisa eventually gave up.

"Why don't we go introduce ourselves, Kisa-san?" Yukina asked mildly, watching one of the movers bring in a rather large box.

"You don't even live here!" Kisa protested, but since Yukina wasn't letting go of his hand, he was forced to bring his boyfriend with him as he went to investigate.

Among the movers was a girl, probably a bit younger than Yukina. As soon as she saw Kisa there in the doorway, she dropped the box she'd been carrying. It hit the floor with a soft thunk, so at least there wasn't anything breakable in it. "Ah, are you one of my neighbors? I'm Kudo Yuuna."

"…I'm Kisa Shouta, and that's Yukina Kou." To Kisa's dismay, Yukina still hadn't let go of his hand. He disregarded it and added, "I'm not really around most of the day, though, because of my job."

"Your job?"

"He edits shoujo manga," Yukina said with a bright smile. Yukina let go of his hand, but to Kisa's alarm, he replaced the gesture with wrapping his arms around his shoulders. "He's really good at it."

There was a beat of silence, and Kisa expected the girl to tell them to get out, or call them disgusting, or _something_. Instead she said, "Ooh, which ones? I have a bunch in one of the boxes around here." She started looking and tearing open boxes, as if she needed to prove this point.

Yukina still had his arms around Kisa's shoulders, and Kisa found himself considerably less tense as Kudo looked for her collection. "See, Kisa-san? Not everyone cares."

Kisa muttered under his breath and pushed Yukina away. "Stupid, I know that."


	44. Erotica: On Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day

Kisa had worked harder than he could remember doing in a while just so he could get out of Emerald just before Yukina's shift at Marimo Books ended at seven. It was Valentine's Day, and while Kisa was nowhere near sentimental about it, he knew Yukina would be. It was also Kisa's first Valentine's Day in a relationship.

He was, to tell the truth, determined to be on time because he'd made reservations at a restaurant, and he'd been warned that if they didn't show up within half an hour, they'd lose them. He'd only done it the past week and was surprised they even had room left, so he considered himself lucky.

The shojo section was dressed up for the occasion, of course, and Kisa had a feeling that Yukina had at least a small part in it. There were hearts everywhere.

"Yukina-san…"

Kisa had been staring at the floor, but when he heard Yukina's name, he looked up to see one of the girls who always visited him had approached him, and was holding what appeared to be a heart-shaped piece of chocolate out to him. Kisa hadn't been spotted, so he was tempted to bolt. That hadn't exactly gone well the first time, though.

"You probably get a million confessions, but you don't seem to have anyone right now so… will you go out with me?" The girl had a delicate blush on her face, but she seemed determined to keep eye contact with Yukina.

Yukina had a bright smile on his face as he said, "I'm sorry, but I do have someone. Thank you, though." He was dressed in his street clothes, so it seemed he had been ready to leave. So it made sense that he'd go straight for Kisa when he spotted him. "Kisa-san! Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kisa said. The girl was still watching them, and any other day of the year, Kisa would have left it at that. Perhaps it was all the chocolate he'd eaten that day, though, or all the hearts around him, because he found himself bowing and said, "Ah, hello. I'm Kisa."

"You're his friend?" the girl asked vaguely.

Kisa gulped, and then he smiled and said, "Ah, no, we've been dating for a while now."

That was about all the courage he had, though, and he started back through the store, Yukina trailing happily behind him. "I love you, Kisa-san," Yukina whispered in his ear.

Kisa blushed right to the tip of that ear. "I-I know."


	45. Erotica: Thinking

Thinking

The rain beat down on Kisa's head as he scrambled out of the café, too flustered to care until he realized his clothes were completely soaked through. He considered going back under the café's awning, but that would probably mean having to face Yukina again.

"Gah, what the hell?" he demanded as he powered forward into the rain, determined to make his way back to Marukawa and put it all behind him. He didn't even want to think about the kiss Yukina had given him just now, but that's all that was in his mind as the rain drops fell faster, falling against his cheeks and cooling down the blush that had formed as he made his flustered exit.

He only dared to look back down the street when he came to a crosswalk, but he didn't see Yukina. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then he leaned against a light pole and put his fingers to his lips. It wasn't as kissing were anything special to him- he'd done it plenty of times with the guys he'd slept with in the past, so he had no idea why he had acted so shy after Yukina finally pulled back. Or, for that matter, why he hadn't pushed Yukina away. It was true that Kisa was attracted to him, but he preferred to leave those kinds of things for the bedroom, not a public restaurant where the only thing shielding the deed from the outside world was a flimsy sketchbook.

And of course it wasn't like the other people in the café wouldn't know what they were doing, anyway.

Kisa snorted and pushed away from the light pole upon seeing the crosswalk light turn green. He was obsessing over something that probably meant nothing.


	46. Nostalgia: Giving

Giving

"Here."

Ritsu had been minding his own business on the train on the way home from work when Takano suddenly turned to him. He looked confused at first, until he saw that his boss was holding something in his hands and seemed to be implying that he wanted Ritsu to take it. "What?"

"It's for you," he said, holding up the small, brown teddy bear. When Ritsu just continued to looked confused, Takano huffed and said, "…back in high school, I won it when I went to a summer festival. I was going to give it to you but then…" He trailed off, and that seemed to be all that needed to be said.

There were a few more moments of silence between them before Ritsu huffed and took the bear into his hands. Even back in high school, he didn't really have a thing for plush toys. He knew that he would have gladly taken this thing from Saga-sempai, though, and it seemed he was going to gladly take it from Takano-san now.

He looked down at it and asked, "You kept it all these years?"

"…yeah." Takano wouldn't look at him, and they rode in silence until their train reached its destination. They still had to climb the hill to their apartment building, though, and as they made their way out of the station, Ritsu found himself hugging the bear to his chest.

"Thank you, Takano-san."


	47. Erotica: Being Honest

Being Honest

Since getting together with Yukina, Kisa hadn't really drank all that much. Usually he'd do it in a bar, and his only reason for going to a bar was to find a man to have sex with. Now that he had Yukina, if he had time to have sex, he already had someone who was more than willing to fulfill his needs.

Sometimes he just needed to, though, and so that's why he found himself dragging a six pack home after a particularly hectic day. He was alone for a few hours since Yukina had a shift at Marimo Books, so there wasn't anyone or anything to distract him from his mass consumption of alcohol. By the time Yukina got back, Kisa was three sheets to the wind and in a very giggly mood.

"Kisa-san?" Yukina asked with interest as he saw his boyfriend lying there on the floor, a half-drunk beer in his hand and his other hand covering his forehead like he was testing for a fever. "What have you been doing?"

"Juuuuust drinking a bit," Kisa said. He moved his hand from his forehead to his mouth, yawning largely. Then he glanced at Yukina, who was looking around at the empty beer cans that laid around him like fallen soldiers. "What?"

Yukina smiled warmly, slipping off his shoes and going over to Kisa. "Nothing, Kisa-san." He leaned down for a quick kiss and said, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Noooooo," Kisa said. "I'm not hungry."

"I'll make something, anyway."

"Aw, I love you, Yukina. You always take such good care of me." Kisa flailed his legs before yawning and putting down the can of beer, cuddling up to the giant Tinkle doll he'd pulled down from the couch. Yukina was tempted to tell Kisa he'd had enough to drink, but it wasn't every day that Kisa was so open about his feelings. There was nothing wrong with enjoying it for a while.


	48. Gen: Being Kissed

Being Kissed

Takano had been the head editor of Emerald for about three months. If Kisa had to be truthful, he wasn't sure what he thought of his boss. It was clear from day one he was a hard worker, of course; he was already whipping Emerald into shape, even if the sales were barely reflecting that, at least yet. But Kisa didn't know much about him other than the rather intense stares he sent around the room sometimes, like he was trying to size them up.

He did learn something near the end of one cycle, though. One of Kisa's authors was especially late on their pages, and he and Takano had ended up going over to the woman's studio to help finish the pages. When Kisa finished his work on one and went to give it to her, his author said, "I don't know… I'm just having trouble with this and I don't know why…"

"Which one is it?" Kisa asked, leaning over to look for himself. "Oh, a kissing scene…"

"Yes… I've done them before but I can't seem to get the angle right," she said, frowning.

Kisa looked down and tilted his head. He laughed and said, in a joking voice, "Maybe you need a live demonstration!"

Everyone laughed a bit, except for Takano. He glanced up from the page he'd been working on and said, "…Kisa, come over here."

"What is it, boss?" Kisa asked, following orders. Before he could do anything, Takano stood up, angling himself so the author could see them both, and kissed him hard.

Kisa's eyes went wide, but he resisted opening his mouth in case Takano decided to make the "demonstration" even more real. Once he was thoroughly shaken-up and red-faced, Takano pulled away and said, "Was that helpful?"

"Y-yes!" The author went back to her work, drawing furiously.

Takano sat back down, but then he looked back up, noticed Kisa staring at him, and said, "What?"

"…nothing."


	49. Erotica: Remembering

Remembering

Kisa knew that Yukina was originally from Sapporo, but he didn't really know much else about that subject. He figured he must have moved to Tokyo for college, though, and he managed to casually bring it up in a conversation they had over dinner one night.

"Ah, yes, I did," Yukina said with a smile, holding his bowl of rice close to his mouth like he thought losing one or two grains of rice would be a tragedy. "I came out here on my own. All of my family is still in Hokkaido."

"…don't you miss them sometimes?" Kisa asked, staring off to the side and disregarding his own meal.

Yukina tilted his head, putting down both his bowl and his chopsticks. "I suppose. But I have you, Kisa-san. And the random kindness of strangers." He laughed a little.

"What?"

"Oh! I don't think I told you…" Yukina leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands. "When I first moved out here, I got lost when I was going home from my classes… I met a kid who helped me find my way around. I wanted to ask him for his number or something, so I could thank him properly later, but he just ran off…"

Kisa could feel the ellipses running through his brain at that, and when a vague memory of helping out a very pretty man and then losing his nerve before he could ask for his number came into his mind, he just ducked his head and went back to eating.

"Kisa-san?" Yukina asked, blinking in confusion.

"_Nothing_."


	50. Gen: Drinking With Friends

Drinking With Friends

Ritsu had been working at Marukawa Shoten for one week when he accepted the invitation to go drinking with Kisa. He didn't know any of his coworkers that well, and he figured that if he was going to prove Takano-san wrong about being useless, he may as well get to know the people that would be helping him until he got a grasp on his new job.

Of course what he didn't expect was that Kisa Shouta was a rather affectionate drunk.

"Ricchan, you're so cute," he said with a smile, putting down his empty glass. Ritsu had stopped counting how many he'd had. "Can I touch your face?"

"U-um…" Ritsu hadn't had that much to drink and was still fairly coherent. "Why would you want to do that, Kisa-san?"

"Because you're cute!" Kisa repeated, slumping down on the table. "I gave up sex tonight for this and you won't even talk to me…"

"Oh, you're married, Kisa-san?" Ritsu asked, trying to ignore the part about sex. He'd been told early-on how old Kisa was, simply because it was apparently required knowledge for anyone working in the Emerald department. "It must be hard on your wife with you gone so much for your job…"

"Nope. Gay," Kisa said, dragging the "a" out on gay. "There's a higher chance of me having sex with you than with a woman, let alone marrying one…" He yawned widely, completely oblivious to the mortified look on Ritsu's face. "What about you, Ricchan? Don't you have a pretty little girlfriend?"

"N-no, I haven't had anyone since high school." Ritsu ducked his head, staring into his half-empty beer glass. He started glancing around, hoping the waiter was nearby so he could ask for their bill. "We should probably go home, Kisa-san."

"Aw, but you're not drunk enough to agree to sleep with me yet!" Kisa said, but he still followed Ritsu out after the drinks had been paid for.

Ritsu blushed, his face hot against the cool night air. "I think we should just be friends, Kisa-san."

Kisa frowned like Ritsu had just spoke a foreign language to him. "Fiiiiine."


	51. Gen: Meeting New Coworkers

Meeting New Coworkers

Kisa's day wasn't getting off to an incredibly great start. He'd overslept so by the time he got to the subway to ride to work, it was so crowded that he had to pack himself in, bodies pressed up all around him. It was one thing having his personal space invaded when it couldn't be helped. It was another thing entirely when he felt the man behind him reach around and actually grope him.

"_What the hell_," Kisa demanded as the man's hand pressed up against his groin. He couldn't move very well, though, having just enough room to lift his head and look at the man who was touching him. He couldn't have been older than twenty-five. "You are way too young to be looking for cheap thrills, kid."

The man grinned and traced along Kisa's groin above his pants. "Kid? You're not even out of high school."

"I'm thirty." Kisa gave the man a significant look, but before the conversation could go any further, Kisa's stop was announced. The crowd shifted just enough for him to get away, and he didn't look back.

Kisa got to Marukawa a while later, and he sighed and sat down in his seat, spinning it around a few times before going to open his laptop. Ritsu glanced over at him but didn't say anything.

The rest of the magazine staff were usually there before the editors, but one person, a new hire it seemed, was there late. Kisa glanced up, ready to tease the man, but then he recognized the face. And he laughed. Hard.

"Wh-what's the matter, Kisa-san?" Ritsu asked, looking over at the man for himself.

Kisa and the man locked eyes, but the man blushed and ducked his head before leaving the room. Takano-san yelled at the guy to get back to work, but the fear of the editor-in-chief had not been instilled yet so it could override the utter mortification he was feeling. And that's all Kisa could ever ask for.


	52. Trifecta: Visiting

Visiting

If Yokozawa had to pinpoint an exact time when things became ridiculous for him at Marukawa, it would probably be the day Hiyori visited to drop off her father's forgotten lunch. It was a school vacation so she'd simply been at home, her friend Yuki-chan's mother keeping an eye on her throughout the day as Hiyori kept Sorata company.

Yokozawa's task was innocent enough, or at least regular enough; he had to check in with Kirishima about a second print run of some tankobon or another. He'd gone onto the Japun floor stomping and with a serious look on his face, doing his best to make sure that Kirishima knew he meant business and wasn't going to budge or negotiate on how many more they were going to print for the time-being.

He got about as far as the first row of editor desks when he saw Kirishima hugging his daughter. He cringed and went to turn so that he could have his conversation with Kirishima once Hiyori was gone, but he'd already been spotted.

"Oniichan!" she called, letting go of her father and running up to Yokozawa. He could feel every single eye in the room fall on him as the little girl came up and hugged him around the waist.

Despite himself, Yokozawa smiled and chuckled, patting her on the head. "Hey, Hiyo. Having a good vacation?"

"Uh huh! Are you coming over tonight? Yuki-chan's mom is going to help me make lasagna," Hiyori said, looking up at him.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Yokozawa answered. Hiyori grinned and ran off after that, and when Yokozawa looked up, everyone was still staring at him. Kirishima himself looked incredibly amused. Yokozawa just scowled and stomped out, completely forgetting that he'd had business there.


	53. Erotica: Teasing

Teasing

Despite that Kisa was always saying he wanted to be taken seriously, there were certain things he did that made Yukina just think he was utterly adorable. One of them was the nights when Kisa actually bothered to put on something to wear to bed. Those were usually the nights he got home at a reasonable hour, but was too tired to have sex.

In the dead of winter, his go-to pajamas were a flannel pair that were too big on him. The pants were always bunched around his ankles, and he was constantly trying to push up the sleeves because they'd fall over his hands. Yukina couldn't help but think of a child who was wearing their older sibling's hand-me-downs.

"What?" he asked one night when he was sitting on the couch, going over some storyboards that an author had just faxed to him and, of course, constantly pushing his sleeves up over his hands. Yukina had been staring at him and smiling shamelessly, and it disconcerted him.

"Nothing, Kisa-san," Yukina said, turning back to the drawing he'd been working on. It wasn't Kisa, but the older man had been giving him looks like he thought it was. "You're just… incredibly cute."

Kisa scowled down at his storyboards before putting them away and crawling over to Yukina. "You want sex, don't you?" he said.

"No, Kisa-san. Just making an observation."

Then Kisa smirked, and he tugged on Yukina's collar and put on a pout. "Yukinaaaaa~ You don't want me?"

Yukina gulped. "I-I didn't say that, Kisa-san!"

Kisa smirked and pulled away. "Too bad. I've still got work." He went back to his end of the couch and picked up the storyboards. Then he looked over to Yukina and said, "By the way, _that_ is cute."

Yukina couldn't really disagree with that one.


	54. Erotica: Being Sleepy

Being Sleepy

Kisa was asleep when Yukina finally got back from his late shift at Marimo. He wasn't asleep in his bed, though. He was asleep on the couch, his head on one of the throw pillows and the other pillow wrapped in his arms like it was something precious. Since it was almost eleven o'clock, Yukina figured it wouldn't do much good to wake him up. Instead, he took the smaller man in his arms and headed the short distance to his bedroom.

"Mm?" Kisa asked as he was placed on the bed. He opened his eyes just enough to see, and when he looked up and saw Yukina, he yawned and held out his arms. "Bedtime."

"I know, Kisa-san," Yukina said with a smile, leaning down and kissing him on the forehead. "I just got back. I'll shower and change and be right back."

"Nope," Kisa said, still holding out his arms. "Bedtime."

Yukina had been ready to resist again, but he found that when Kisa pulled this kind of act, he really couldn't. He had already stripped off his shoes and coat, having changed into his street clothes before leaving Marimo. He sighed and leaned down again. "Are you sure, Kisa-san?"

"Yep."

He smiled and carefully crawled into bed next to his boyfriend, pushing the covers down so he could put them over himself if he needed them later. Then he wrapped his arms around Kisa and pulled him close. "Goodnight, Kisa-san."

Kisa was already asleep.


	55. Nostalgia: Being Quirky

Being Quirky

Ritsu had a bit of an odd quirk. He couldn't stand the thought of the underside of tables. Not himself being under tables, necessarily, which might have been a slightly weird but acceptable fear. Just under tables in general.

The quirk, he decided, started in high school. When he and Saga-senpai were still together, the older boy had ducked under the table at the library one day and given Ritsu his first ever blowjob when they were sure no one was coming in. Ritsu had been mortified, though incredibly aroused. And to tell the truth, it was mostly just the underside of the desks at Emerald. He had found himself alone in the office with his boss more than once, and he always remembered that time.

"What's with you, Onodera?" Takano asked, and Ritsu realized that he had been staring at the man for several minutes now.

Ritsu blushed and turned away, going to print off the report he'd stayed a bit later to finish. "Nothing."

"I realize I'm easy on the eyes, but you don't have to just stare at me, you know."

Ritsu's face went bright red at that, remembering exactly why he had been staring at Takano in the first place. He gulped and shook his head. "As if!"  
>"I could always suck you off under your desk like I did back in high school."<p>

Ritsu screeched inhumanly and stuffed his laptop in his bag before shooting out of the office.


	56. Erotica: Waking Up Early

Waking Up Early

If the cycle ended on a Friday or Saturday, that meant Kisa had the next one or two days off so he could sleep in and fully recover. This also meant that he'd turn his alarm clock off so that he wouldn't have to wake up at the same time he did on a normal day.

Yukina, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice this habit. He stayed over with Kisa the Friday he got back so he could make him a proper supper and make sure he got to the bed instead of passing out in a random place in his apartment. When he found Kisa passed-out on the couch after doing the supper dishes, he picked him up, put him in bed, and turned on the alarm clock.

Kisa was not happy to be woken up at seven AM the next morning. "What the hell?" he demanded, his voice groggy, as he reached out and tried to turn off the alarm clock. He didn't reach it in time, though, and it started beeping louder. "Ugh, Yukina, turn that thing off, would you?"

"Hmm?" Yukina glanced up, still half-asleep, and he managed to reach over Kisa and turn it off before it reached its next decibel level.

"I don't use my alarm clock after Hell Week, Yukina," Kisa said, glaring at his boyfriend from where he was hiding everything but his eyes under the covers.

"I'm sorry, Kisa-san. I didn't notice that about you…" Yukina sat up, frowning over at Kisa. When the older man went fully under the covers, Yukina did too, latching onto him. "I promise I won't turn it on next month."

Kisa was blushing bright-red, but still scowling. "Yeah, yeah."


	57. Gen: Being Shallow

Being Shallow

"Kisa-san?" Ritsu asked as they sat there at their desks, working as always. It wasn't too far into the cycle, so it wasn't busy and Takano was less likely to yell at them to stop gossiping and get back to work. When Kisa looked over to him, he added, "You ever heard of a guy named Haitani Shin?"

"Hmm?" Kisa looked like he needed to think about that. He even leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. There was a pencil stuck up there from the end of some cycle. It wasn't the last one, that was for sure, but no one knew just how long it had been there. "He's the head-editor of Earth over at Shuudansha, right?"

"Well, yes," Ritsu said. He knew that much. "But I mean, as a person."

"Well Earth is Japun's main rival so obviously he's good at his job." Kisa shrugged. "Only ever worked for Marukawa. Can't say I've had the pleasure." Then he looked like he was thinking again. "I have met him at one or two parties between multiple companies. Isn't half bad-looking!"

Ritsu looked like he was ready to faceplam. Of course Kisa would think about that when Ritsu wanted to know about the guy.

Kisa blinked. "What?"

"Never mind."


	58. Erotica: Stairs

Stairs

Yukina was the first to visit Kisa in the hospital after Takano-san. Takano-san had gone back to the office when Kisa insisted he had someone to bring him home. The hospital wouldn't let him leave until he did.

"Stairs," Kisa said, staring at the cast that Takano had drawn cute little doodles all over while he waited for the okay to go, "are evil."

"You just have to be more careful, Shouta-san," Yukina said with a smile. They'd already told the nurse that Kisa was ready to check out, so she was off getting paperwork. "Do you want to go right home, or do you need something?"

"Alcohol to numb the pain?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what the prescription is for." He waved the scrip he'd picked up from the table in the air before walking over to Kisa. "I'll get you some dorayaki on the way home." He smiled and leaned down, pressing a kiss to Kisa's forehead. "And some markers."

"…why?" Kisa asked, but he had a feeling he already knew.

"Takano-san didn't take up all the space on your cast." He gave Kisa a radiant smile before stepping out of the way.

For Kisa's part, he tried to pay attention to the paperwork he had to sign, but his face was a little red as he did so. He'd have to be sure to treat the cast well so he could keep it later.


	59. Nostalgia: Lost Pet

Lost Pet

Takano had heard strange noises coming from Ritsu's apartment. The man never watched TV when he was on his own. If he had the time, he preferred reading books, it seemed. The door wasn't even locked, so Takano trotted in, then blinked at what he saw.

Ritsu was sitting on the floor, talking to a little golden retriever puppy. The puppy was wagging its tail, listening intently and occasionally barking in agreement with Ritsu as he went over all the strife that Takano caused him at work.

He stood there for about three minutes before he walked over. The dog noticed him first and stood, wagging his tail even harder and barking at the man. "Onodera, if you have time for a dog, why are your pages always late?"

"He's not mine, he followed me here." He sighed. "And I already called his owner, since there's a number on the tag. They'll come get him."

Since Ritsu wasn't telling Takano to leave, the man got down on the floor beside Ritsu, staring at the creature as well. "He is kind of cute."

Ritsu grinned. "Yeah, I like dogs. I had some, growing up."

"In high school?"

"Mhm." Ritsu reached forward and picked up the puppy, petting its head. It took a bit before he realized the implications of what Takano was asking, and he scowled. "You could've asked back then."

"I know."


	60. Being Old

Being Old

Kisa didn't particularly care about his birthday. After he left college and focused more on his job than anything else, it became just another day to him. He was usually aware of when it was, but other than that, he'd maybe get a call from family members and some cards in the mail, but that was it.

Of course, when you're dating someone like Yukina, that is most certainly not it. He liked celebrating things; Christmas and New Year's had shown that.

He wouldn't have even known it was Kisa's birthday if Kisa's mother had called his cell phone instead of the landline, though. When Yukina stayed over, he had permission to answer the phone just because no one ever seemed to think it suspicious. Authors probably thought he was just another editor.

"Shouta-san!" Yukina grinned widely as he walked into the kitchen, where Kisa was making miso soup. "Why didn't you tell me it's your birthday today?"

Kisa glared at the phone he had in his hands, his mother's voice coming from it a little muffled as she probably said something to his father.

"It's not important," he muttered, snatching the phone and turning it off. He knew his mother would call again later, but right now, it didn't matter. "No need to make me feel older than I already do."

"Shouta-san, you're only thirty-one," Yukina said with a frown.

"Only?"

"Thirty-one isn't old."

"Yeah, try saying that when you're thirty-one."

Yukina laughed. "I won't need to. You'll be forty and complaining about that, too."

Kisa ducked his head and went back to cooking, not bothering to mention that Yukina was assuming they'd still be together by then.

"At least let me go get some wine or something." Yukina wrapped his arms around Kisa's shoulders, smiling and laying his head next to his boyfriend's. "I won't get you a present if you don't want."

The phone rang again, and one look at the caller ID had Kisa frowning. "Yeah, go. I don't need you talking to my mother again."

"Of course, Shouta-san."


	61. Trifecta: Telling the Truth

Telling The Truth

This situation was familiar, Yokozawa couldn't help but think.

Hiyo's fourteenth birthday party. Kirishima running around to get everything ready in time for guests to arrive. The difference here was that the boy at the door was actually invited this time. Hiyo was old enough and, Kirishima had said, responsible enough to have male friends. Of course that didn't stop either of them from being suspicious and secretly wanting to strangle any boy who got close to her.

"A-ah, good afternoon," the boy said, giving Yokozawa a bright smile. He didn't recognize the kid from any school events he'd been brave enough to attend, and the point that they hadn't met was further driven home by the fact that he had to ask, "Are you Hiyori-san's father?"

There was a woman behind him, a mother or an aunt probably, someone he didn't recognize either, but he knew the type by looking at her expression. Had heard that Hiyori's father was single and wanted to get in a word.

They'd been talking about this just last night. That Kirishima wouldn't say a word about their relationship, that Yokozawa was the one who had a right to do that because his comfort was what was important here. That if he was let loose, Kirishima would probably tell everyone that he was in love with the most amazing man in the world.

Yokozawa set his mouth in a thin line and said, "No, I'm her father's boyfriend. Please, come in." The last part was said as he stepped aside and signaled into the apartment. The boy seemed to think nothing of it, stepping into the genkan and taking off his shoes. The woman, however, still stood in the doorway. Yokozawa didn't want to leave her there, but he didn't know what else to say. His courage had left him with those last words.

Luckily, Kirishima came to the rescue.

"Yokozawa, get in here, the oven went off!" He was in the kitchen, and still trusted his own cooking skills so little that he wouldn't even take food out of the oven.

Yokozawa nodded and reached for the door. "Have a good day."

She didn't need to be told twice. She was gone before the door closed.

It was progress.


	62. Nostalgia: Noticing

Noticing

"Ricchan, what's that?"

Ritsu glanced up from his work, surprised at the sudden interruption. It wasn't Hell Week, but everyone had been pretty focused all day. To the point where Ritsu was actually enjoying himself, and forgot about the man sitting at the end of the table, drinking coffee and adjusting his glasses in the irritated way he only did when he was looking at something he didn't like.

He turned to look at Kisa, rubbing at one eye like he'd just woken up from a nap. His vision was definitely blurry like he had. "Um, what's what?"

Before Ritsu could do anything about it, Kisa had reached up and was poking at his neck. "You have marks on your neck," he said, his eyes narrowed like he was concentrating really hard on them. "Are those… hickies?"

While his coworker kept poking at his neck, Ritsu knew his face was going pale. There was exactly one reason why he'd have hickies, and it had to do with the man at the end of the row of desks who was currently staring at them.

Takano adjusted his glasses, looking even more annoyed. "Onodera, Kisa, if you two have time to gossip, I guess that means I should feel free to give you more work?"

"This is your damn fault!" Ritsu said it without thinking, and when Kisa whirled around, looking between his boss and his desk mate, he knew he'd regret it.

"Oh reeeeeeally~?" Kisa asked, looking pleased at this new information. Before either Ritsu or Takano could do anything, Kisa stood from his chair, not even putting his shoes back on as he ran for the Sapphire offices.

"Onodera."

"What?" He was greeted with a fun-size Kit-Kat thrown at his face, and he scowled. "Is this supposed to make up for it?"

"Yes."

"Ass."


End file.
